Dell Studio XPS 13 Ultraportable Notebook

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Introduction and Specifications

For the longest while, Dell seemed perfectly content to continue producing notebooks with a minimalist design. Sure, they were perfectly up to snuff internally, but externally they lacked the more agressive lines and personality captured in some of the high-fashion machines from the likes of Alienware, HP and a few other boutique notebook makers. And then, the Studio line was born.

As we saw last fall with the company's Studio Hybrid small form factor desktop, Dell's Studio line of products is a breath of fresh air to anyone who remembers the company's tendency toward "beige boxes" from days gone by. The hip, modern look embodied by the Studio moniker has rubbed off on the new Studio XPS 13, a tight-fitting ultraportable with loads of style and plenty of power to go around, including a Hybrid SLI graphics engine. Without question, Dell has gone its own way with the Studio XPS 13. It's not trying to compete with the MacBook Airs and MSI X-Slim X340s of the world; instead, it's hoping to spark another trend and lead the way, which is exactly what Dell needs to be doing if they seriously hope to regain its place atop the PC notebook heap.

The 13.3" Studio XPS 13 is more than just a miniaturized version of the XPS M1530. It's a blend of portability, power and style, something that's rarely offered together in a form factor this small. Typically, users gunning for a 13" machine have to sacrifice extra power to get a machine that's thin, or they have to sacrifice style for a machine's that widely available at a reasonable price. Dell's attempting to do an awful lot within a single 13" notebook. We're going to explain just how well we feel they've succeeded, in the pages to come.